Israel is letting thousands of Palestinians return to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of the war with Hamas​, as a fragile ceasefire endures​.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning home to northern Gaza on Monday, bracing for what awaits them in a region that has been reduced to rubble by months of brutal bombardment and fighting.

Hamas released four Israeli hostages in Gaza early Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners to be released later in the day. It was the second release to occur as part of the ceasefire agreement that began last weekend. Israel followed with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas is set to free three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month.

Wealthy Arab nations consider bankrolling Gaza’s reconstruction, but they want assurances Palestinians will lead in the postwar period.

The fragility of the truce between Israel and Hamas was laid bare on Saturday, after Israel accused Hamas of withholding a hostage, prompting a halt in the movement of Gazan civilians back to their homes in the north.

Much of the beleagured city of Goma was calm early Wednesday morning, after a day during which thousands of fleeing people hunkered down by roadsides as missiles flew and injured people streamed to overwhelmed hospitals.

Among those freed is Arbel Yehoud, whose release was at the center of a dispute that threatened to unravel the fragile ceasefire deal.

The expected release is part of a fragile ceasefire between the militant group and Israel, which began earlier this month and brought a pause to 15 months of war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed 15 months ago that Israel would achieve “total victory” in the war in Gaza — by eradicating Hamas and freeing all the hostages